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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Boehner: Obama should 'lead, not cast blame'

(CNN) – House Speaker John Boehner hit back at President Barack Obama's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, where the president faulted Republicans for the ongoing stalemate in the fiscal cliff battle.

“Americans elected President Obama to lead,
not cast blame. The president’s comments today are ironic, as a
recurring theme of our negotiations was his unwillingness to agree to
anything that would require him to stand up to his own party. Needed
cuts and reforms that the president agreed to just last year were no
longer on the table, as he cited an inability to sell them to Democrats.

“In an effort to get the president to agree to cut spending - which
is the problem - I put revenues on the table last year, and I put them
on the table again last month. Republicans made every effort to reach
the ‘balanced’ deficit agreement that the president promised the
American people, while the president has continued to insist on a
package skewed dramatically in favor of higher taxes that would destroy
jobs. We’ve been reasonable and responsible. The president is the one
who has never been able to get to ‘yes.’ “The House has passed legislation to avert the entire fiscal cliff,
and the president has never called for the Senate to act on those bills
in any way. He instead has simply allowed the Democratic-controlled
Senate to sit on them and lead our economy to the edge of the fiscal
cliff. I am pleased Senators from both parties are currently working to
find a bipartisan solution that can finally pass that chamber. That is
the type of leadership America needs, not what they saw from the
president this morning.” (Source CNN)